Posted by
Dan
at
1:34 AM
Time for our regular New Year's day business.
Once again, Peeron.com has updated their LEGO set instructions database to make all sets released in a given year available - you can now use their database to look up instructions for kits released in 2007. Speaking of databases: Brickset has done their year-end round of improvements. Nothing major this time, but all certainly good things.
LEGO has also unveiled some new items for 2010, most of which should be available through Shop at Home. Some highlights:
Maersk Container Ship:
(#10155, $119.99 USD, 990 pieces)
The Maersk Container Ship kit has been reissued again. Conveniently, they've risen the price on this one enough to make it about even with what you'd pay to buy the original off of BrickLink or eBay. Still - it's a great kit and the only way you can get your hands on LEGO pieces in the rare color of Maersk blue without breaking the bank.
Collectible Minifigures Series 3:
(#8803, $2.99 USD, 1 randomly packed minifigure per bag)
Collectible Minifigures Series 3 are now out. You know the drill by now: Randomly packed exclusive minifigures for a low price, but with some characters being quite hard to find. The price has gone up this time around, but is still quite reasonable for minifigures with exclusive molds and prints.
Diagon Alley:
(#10217, $149.99 USD, 2025 pieces, 11 minifigs)
For my money, the most exciting thing here is the new Diagon Alley set in the Harry Potter line. It's similar to other recent kits, like the 2008 Town Plan set or the Medieval Market Village. On top of that, it's got a bunch of great new Harry Potter parts in it! Although LEGO had previously released 4723 Diagon Alley Shops, this new version definitely takes it up a bit in the best way possible.
This year's big new playtheme is Ninjago, which is a game based system that involves colorful ninjas defeating "bad guys" through the use of "spinjitzu". This is definitely set up for kids to play with, but there are some new or rereleased elements in here as well.
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Posted by
Dan
at
9:27 PM
| Name of Model: Make some more Minifigure madness! |
| Created by the LEGO company |
| Found at: https://club.lego.com/en-gb/news/NewsDetails.aspx?id=189535 |
Details:  Plenty of exciting new items have shown up at LEGO Shop-at-Home recently. Among them are the new collectible minifigures. They're selling quickly (and with a limit of 5 per order), so if you want them you better hurry. If you're looking for an interesting way to display them, check out the links above - LEGO's "club" is offering complete instructions and parts lists to build a display podium (pictured here), a Ninja gate, a Skateboarder ramp, a saloon door for the Cowboy, and a stage for the Magician. Perfect vignettes for the minifigures! |
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Posted by
Dan
at
7:40 PM
 
In spite of my best attempts to add this advertisement unobtrusively to the site's layout, I was not able to accomplish that task (what's considered "good enough" for the layout parser on Blogger is not the same as what's considered "good enough" for a regular blog post). So here's the ad as a post (scheduled to stay on the front page until they end this offer). Go ahead! Take advantage of it! There are exciting new 2010 kits there!
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Posted by
Dan
at
10:11 PM
2010 is finally here, and that means that the new sets that have been slowly dripping into select stores should now be showing up everywhere. All the new items should now be available from Shop at Home, including one new exclusive (with apologies to my international visitors, all the prices below are in US dollars).
First, the LEGO direct exclusive (available from S@H and LEGO brand retail stores) - the beautiful upgrade for the Imperial Guards' Imperial Flagship:
(#10210, $179.99, 1664 pieces, 9 minifigs)
When the original Imperial Flagship kit came out in 1992, it was a nice kit but it was hardly the size you'd expect a true Flagship (in naval terms, not LEGO ones) to be. This kit might still look a bit small for ship aficionados, but the upgrade in size is worthwhile, the looks are great, the parts are excellent (and exclusive in some cases), and the price is pretty decent as Pirate sets go - 1664 pieces for $180.
Other highlights of this wave of new 2010 kits include:
Space Police Raid VPR:
(#5981, $9.99, 69 pieces, 2 minifigs)
An interesting development in the Space Police plotline, and the first clear connection between the original 1989 line and the current series. The alien's torso has both a double-printed Blacktron torso and Blacktron 2 logo. The officer in the set finally has a fully closed helmet, and even has a trans-red visor (which they haven't made SINCE the 1989 line). This set's a tad expensive, but the incredible new minifigs justify it (and make me wonder if we'll see more of a storyline develop - when did the Blacktron begin fraternizing with alieans?)
Woody's Roundup:
(#7594, $49.99, 502 pieces, 3 minifigs (4 if you count the new Toy Story horse))
The Toy Story line LEGO is releasing (thanks to their new licensing deal with Disney and Pixar) is off to an interesting start. Some of the sets are a bit expensive, but this one's right at the mark and includes quite a few rare pieces. The new character minifigs are very unique - we have hats permanently attached to heads, a new longer leg length, and even a new longer arm length. It seems like the best way to get LEGO to make a new part is to get a large licensing company to insist LEGO start making it - the Star Wars line had previously brought us new parts and colors, and the Toy Story line is already proving itself similarly fruitful. Additionally, this is the first new "Wild West" style kit we have seen since the late 1990's Wild West playtheme.
Tractor with Log Loader:
(#8049, $59.99, 525 pieces)
When the linear actuator component was unveiled a few years back, many of us Technic fans feared that this meant the end of the pneumatic system. As it was, we hadn't seen a new pneumatic kit in years and some parts (such as the air tank) were becoming quite hard to find (and expensive online). Last year saw their return to the Educational line, but this kit is the first to be available to the general market. As an added bonus, we finally get a new tractor design (last year's tractor kit was based on an older design, but in a new color), and (according to TechnicBricks' review) there's even parts and instructions included for building a motorized compressor.
Gateway of the Squid:
(#8061, $39.99, 354 pieces, 3 minifigs)
The Atlantis line is the big new playtheme this time out. It's a bit more exotic (and generally expensive) than the Power Miners series last year (which, by the way, is still around and will have additional new releases later this year) but it's turning out to be surprisingly interesting. New molded minifig parts abound, as do various earth-toned bricks and new elements. It's nice to see a new underwater line - they've tried several over the years - and the weirdness of some new elements and the mysterious new discs (which can open a gate in this set) are very appealing.
Finally, I wanted to spotlight one of the new Creator sets. The Creator sets continue to be the best values for the money, giving you plenty of special pieces and common bricks alike at a price lower than 10 cents per element. This one is just my personal favorite (I guess at some level these all are - you should really browse the full selection of sets yourself) - once again the Creator line features nothing but winning sets.
Apple Tree House:
(#5891, $44.99, 539 pieces)
A charming house with dark blue roof bricks and tan window frames. Sure, there are other nice features, but with those parts and that price-per-part ratio, aren't you already interested in one of these? The house may be a bit small but it's another winner.
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Posted by
Dan
at
5:22 PM
LEGO Shop At Home will be announcing their final round of black Friday deals shortly. In the interest of being out at midnight to fight for some deals from competing toy stores that shall not be named, I'm going to go ahead and post what I know for you now:
First, there's this special offer:
 
The deal here is a crude 10% off discount for large orders: $10 off orders $100 or more, $20 off of orders $200 or more, and $30 off of orders $300 or more. This deal is technically a Black Friday offer, but will be available through November 30th.
Another pretty great deal is free shipping for orders over $99 placed before December 6th (this can be combined with the above deals):
 
For those of you not finishing off your shopping this weekend, the final shipping days for ordering from Shop at Home in the United States (with guaranteed pre-Christmas delivery):
Ground – 12/14/2009 by 12am EST
2nd Day – 12/21/2009 by 2pm EST
Overnight – 12/22/2009 by 2pm EST
Finally, we have been informed that LEGO Shop at Home will be announcing 33 new additions to the Sales and Deals section of their website for Black Friday. These items will be available while supplies last. If this is anything like last year, the sets may appear before the stroke of midnight Eastern Standard Time, and they may be available at the low prices for quite some time after Black Friday. The exact sets and prices have not been announced this year, but that may be due to that info being leaked to the public early by bloggers last year.
 
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Posted by
Brickapolis
at
4:40 PM
The production line has stopped for the largest Star Wars set to date, 10179-1: Millennium Falcon. So if you don't have one, and you were thinking of buying one 'in the near future'; the future has come.
Somewhat sad to see the Falcon go, but that's the cycle of things. Hopefully we'll get something equally nice in its place.
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is available (and probably easy to build with parts you have on hand). The 
